Workshop on Saint Joseph set for Feb. 13

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In his Apostolic Letter Patris corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis declared 2021 the Year of St. Joseph. The Apostolic Penitentiary has also issued a decree granting the faithful many opportunities to gain plenary indulgences through certain acts and prayers in honor of the saint. The Utah Legion of Mary is encouraging local Catholics to participate in a Feb. 13 workshop to prepare Catholics to consecrate themselves to St. Joseph this year and to prepare for Lent.

The free virtual workshop, which will be held via Zoom videoconferencing, is sponsored by the Legion of Mary (SF Senatus) in collaboration with the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The workshop will be presented by Father Joseph Homick, COSJ, and will be based on the book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, by Fr. Donald Calloway.

“Since 1870, when Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church – telling the world to turn to Joseph as our loving father, our spiritual father – there has been so much momentum, and now it’s reaching a crescendo,” Fr. Calloway said in an article in the Winter 2020-21 Marian Helper Magazine.

“The whole Church is now coming around to St. Joseph,” he said. “I never anticipated the book being this big, but at a time when families are under attack, marriages are falling apart, when people have turned away from God, when there’s so much anxiety and fear, we really do need St. Joseph. We need his protection. Now is the time of St. Joseph.”

Fr. Calloway’s 33-day Consecration to St. Joseph is modeled on St. Louis de Montfort’s Preparation for Total Consecration.

“It is a great opportunity to grow in your own personal faith and it is something you can do on your own,” Legion of Mary Utah Curia President Pam Lagerquist said of the 33-day consecration. “We’ve spent the last year doing nothing and canceling a bunch of things during COVID; this is something people can do individually.”

Although people are limited in their ability to gather together for study groups during the pandemic, “we don’t have to be limited in the growth of our spirituality,” Lagerquist said.

Consecration to St. Joseph by Fr. Calloway can be purchased at consecrationtostjoseph.org or on Amazon.com.

The Legion of Mary was founded in Ireland in September 1921 by Frank Duff. Its lay members provide service to the Church on a voluntary basis. There are Legion of Mary presidiums at five parishes in Utah: St. James the Just, St. Ann, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. Francis Xavier and St. Francis of Assisi. For information on the Legion, contact Lagerquist through the St. James the Just Parish office, 801-782-5393.

WHAT: Workshop on St. Joseph

WHEN: Feb. 13, 3-5 p.m.

WHERE: Online

The Zoom information for the workshop is Zoom Meeting ID – 841 2637 9822 (Password: 971921) Dial 1-669-900-9128 (Password: 971921).